This undated file photo shows Diaoyu and nearby islands. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING — A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that China does not accept Japan's protest as Japan demands the retraction of a Chinese government map that shows the Diaoyu Islands belong to China.

"Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands have all along been China's territory. It is only natural that they are marked as Chinese territory on a map," spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing.

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Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno has criticized the release of the map that shows what Japan calls the Senkaku Islands and what China calls the Diaoyu Islands belonging to China. Matsuno said that Japan had complained to China through diplomatic channels and demanded the retraction of that map.